Two Years at Etsy

Etsy is a global marketplace, where people around the world connect to make, sell and buy handmade goods. I was drawn to Etsy because helping people turn their hobbies and passions into businesses sounded like a great opportunity. My time at Etsy felt meaningful, and I was surrounded by talented and warm coworkers who were just as passionate about making a difference.

My Role as a Product Designer

As the solo designer on most projects, it was my responsibility to help define the goals of a project, brainstorm solutions, prototype ideas for user research, polish the UI, and implement the new features in code on the live site. I worked on the Buyer Experience team, which sought to improve every aspect of a shopper’s experience, from viewing an item, to browsing and searching the site, to checking out. While I specifically focused on the homepage, shops, and item pages, working closely with other designers on the Buyer Experience team gave me a comprehensive knowledge of ecommerce experiences.

Improving Etsy for Buyers and Sellers

During my time at Etsy, I worked on a number of projects, but a couple really stand out for me. My team helped Etsy sellers better showcase their brand and tell their story with a new shop design. And we improved the homepage for shoppers by offering them lots of new ways to start shopping or pick up where they left off, both on the website and in the apps.

We Didn't Do It Alone

Our tiny teams of 3 or 4 could never have built the products we did without the help of other talented teams at Etsy. The user research team helped us validate our ideas and get to the bottom of what shoppers wanted on the homepage and see how we could improve shops for both sellers and shoppers. The data science team was eager to provide us with seemingly unlimited ways to serve up personalized recommendations for our shoppers.

Perhaps My Biggest Lesson

No one, no matter how talented, has everything figured out. When I got hired at Etsy, I was coming from a small agency of 10 people. I was frustrated because it felt like we had to figure everything out for ourselves as we grew. Working at Etsy, surely I’d be surrounded by incredible people who had all the answers already! Well, they were incredible people, but I found out that Etsy was growing too, and the people there were figuring it out along the way just as I had been. It was a great lesson that everyone was right there with me, doing their best and figuring a lot out as they go.